Samsung Galaxy Z Flip- Cheaper Than New Razr; Clear Your Off-Facebook History; Advanto Shoots for Smaller, Longer Lasting Batteries; Apple- Prelim. Talks With MGM for Movie Library

The Motorola Razr is making some noise with it’s folding format (albeit in flip phone style and tiny outer screen), but now Samsung seems to be about to kneecap the Razr before it even hits the market. 9to5google.com reports that the Razr has basically mid-range specs with a flagship price…$1500! The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip will come in at $1400, undercutting it by $100…to say nothing of being $500 less than Samsung’s own Galaxy Fold. Even at that, the price is eye-watering…and hundreds more than the rumored figure of ‘under $1000’ that had been making the rounds. The Z Flip will not only have flagship level innards, but will come in Gold, Black, Purple, and Silver. The silver one is apparently engine turned with a sort of ‘football-like pattern’ on it. The Z Flip will launch on Valentine’s Day for $1400, and may be an AT&T exclusive for a period. It will also be sold unlocked.

A court case set this back a year, but now you should be able to use a Facebook tool to force the social net platform to forget everything it knows about your off-Facebook activity. According to cnet.com, now that the court case that argued valuable evidence would be lost is out of the way, the tool is rolling out globally. If you have it already, on the iOS app go to the menu at the bottom right, hit Settings & Privacy, then Settings, and scroll down to the ‘Your Facebook Information’ header. Then, tap Off-Facebook Activity. If you don’t have it yet, it is rolling out via a silent update, so check back later. **NOTE: You will have to clear this periodically, as Facebook will continue to hoover up your data!

Advanto, a company out of New Orleans, has now pulled in over $18 million in backing to fund their quest to manufacture battery components that will produce more powerful, smaller, and longer lasting batteries. Techcrunch.com says their concepts have now attracted Tony Fadell, the so-called ‘father of the iPod’ and founder of Nest. Advanto claims that by utilizing a silicon anode with lithium ion batteries, they can increase the run time by 10 times, eliminating range anxiety for electric vehicles. There have been 4 stumbling blocks so far in doing this: material expansion, cycle-life, cost, and drop-in manufacturing capability. Fadell says Advanto is the first company to successfully tackle them all, and in addition is using ‘sustainably-sourced’ silicon to fight the environmental effects of our economy’s transfer to electric everything. Time will tell if they really have found the holy grail of battery tech, but getting the interest and money of a big hitter like Tony Fadell is a good indication that they are in the ballpark!

Apple TV+ has a couple of hit shows, and some original movies, but is hobbled compared to Netflix and others with their lack of a deep library. Now, a 2nd report is out (after one in the Wall St. Journal last month) that Apple has had preliminary talks with MGM about an acquisition. 9to5mac.com notes that Netflix had also talked with MGM, but they already have a fat library of films. Besides the library, MGM owns several franchises that could be continued like James Bond, RoboCop, and The Magnificent Seven. MGM believes their content is worth over $10 billion, which is a ton…but kind of a rounding error for Apple. It’s unclear if Apple will go for a back catalog like MGM’s, or stay purely original, but having a solid back catalog may be the only way they have a chance to stay in the game with the likes of Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video.